Some old questions here which I still can’t get right, but as I’ve visited the ‘Primera Ciudad’ that one is only a matter of time. Makers of racing shells, perhaps not…
Questions
Conga drum player and “Watermelon Man” musician Mongo Santamaria was a leading figure in which music and dance genre that originated in 1950s Cuba, it being seen as a mixture of son montuno and merengue that sounds similar to cha-cha?
PACHANGA
Named for a date where there was a failed attack on Santiago de Cuba’s Moncada Barracks, what was the party led by Fidel Castro and his associates that existed from 1955 to 1962?
26 JULY MOVEMENT
The first to take on the role following the Cuban Revolution, who was president for seven months in 1959 before resigning because of disputes with Fidel Castro?
MANUEL URRUTIA (LLEÓ)
Who succeeded Manuel Urrutia as Cuban president, ruling from 1959 to 1976 before Fidel Castro took over the role?
OSVALDO DORTICÓS (TORRADO)
Written by Perucho Figueredo and named for an 1868 battle in which he participated, what is the name of the Cuban national anthem?
EL HIMNO DE BAYAMO / LA BAYAMESA
Along with the official language of Spanish, Cuba has two spoken languages. One is English, with what type of creole being the other?
HAITIAN CREOLE
What name given to Western Taíno people has caused some confusion, with the separate Guanahatabey also being labelled by historians as this term in error?
CIBONEY
Folowing the collapse of the Soviet Union a significant economic downturn was experienced in Cuba that is known by what two-word term?
SPECIAL PERIOD
The film “Even the Rain” contains a film-within-a-film that shows which Taíno cacique’s execution, who once canoed from Haiti to Cuba to warn the indigenous people that the Spanish were coming?
HATUEY
Now part of the Bahamas and the first land in the new world visited by Columbus, what was the original Taíno name for San Salvador Island?
GUANAHANÍ
After which Prince of Asturias did Columbus name Cuba when he claimed the island for the Kingdom of Spain in 1492?
JOHN (It was known as ‘Isla Juana’)
Born in a town in the province of Segovia, which conquistador led the successful 1511 conquest and colonisation of Cuba, also becoming its first governor?
DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ DE CUÉLLAR
With Havana being founded not long after, where did Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar establish Cuba’s first settlement in 1511, now being a modern day city?
BARACOA
A patron saint of the Cuban capital as well as the city of Vilnius, which martyr was included in Havana’s full title when it was founded in the early 16th-century?
SAN CRISTÓBAL / SAINT CHRISTOPHER
Starting with Florida in 1539, which conquistador departed from Havana with 600 followers on a vast expedition through the American south-east in search of fame and fortune?
HERNANDO DE SOTO
His map of Cuba finding a home in the National Library of Sweden, which geographer from Leuven is best known for producing the first atlas of the Americas?
CORNELIUS WYTFLIET
Sharing his name with a 20th-century designer of racing shells for competitive rowing, which admiral led the British fleet during the capture of Havana in 1762 as part of the Seven Years’ War?
GEORGE POCOCK
His brother William being painted in “Storming the Morro Castle” by Joshua Reynolds, who commanded the land forces of the British when Havana was captured in 1762 as part of the Seven Years’ War?
GEORGE KEPPEL / (3RD) EARL OF ALBEMARLE
Taking place as part of the American Revolutionary War, the Spanish Conquest of West Florida was completed with victory at which 1781 siege, with Cubans forming one of the many diverse units that fought alongside the Spanish?
PENSACOLA
Taking place in Cuba, which 1812 large-scale slave rebellion was named for its leader, who also bore the nickname ‘Black’?
APONTE CONSPIRACY / REBELLION
The Cuban author dying by suicide in New York City before it was published, which autobiography by Reinaldo Arenas was adapted into a 2000 film which saw Javier Bardem nominated for an Oscar and Johnny Depp play a transvestite called Bon Bon?
BEFORE NIGHT FALLS
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